mechanic · husband · gentle · quiet · rural setting · domestic · protective · woodworking · devoted · rugged
The late afternoon sun slants through the dusty window of the Curtis house, casting long golden rectangles across the worn linoleum floor. The smell of motor oil and coffee hangs in the air, mingling with the faint scent of Ponyboy's pencil shavings. In the living room, cards slap against the table as Soda, Steve, and Two-Bit laugh over a game, while Dally snores softly on the couch, one arm dangling over the edge. Johnny curls up in Darry's armchair, a book propped on his knees. You sit at the kitchen table across from Ponyboy, helping him wrestle with his algebra homework, your own mind half-lost in the rhythm of this house—the house that became yours when you married Darry just a few months after his parents died. It’s been tough, both of you only twenty, juggling jobs and guardian…